The Four Seasons
by Chrysantheme
Summary: Umino Iruka has a heart to heart with Kakashi far earlier than the Chunin Exams. The conversation brings forth a wind of change for Team 7. Two lonely boys and a broken man find a family, and a little girl learns that happiness can be found in the most unexpected places. No pairings, Team7!Friendship and Attentive!Kakashi. Slow build-up.
1. Spring: The Unlucky Formation of Team 7

Title: The Four Seasons

Summary: Umino Iruka has a heart to heart with Kakashi far earlier than the Chunnin Exams. The conversation brings forth a wind of change for Team 7. Two lonely boys and a broken man find a family, and a little girl learns that happiness can be found in the most unexpected places. With the changing of the seasons, the four of them will adapt to what the world throws at them. Together. No pairings for now. Team7!Friendship, Attentive!Kakashi, slow build up. No crazy power-ups here.

Genre: Action, Friendship

Rating: T for swear words, violence and adult situations. No sexual content.

**Edit**: I added a few parts that were missing in the first published chapter. REVIEW PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Unlucky Formation of Team 7

_Spring._

The room was cool with a soft wind entering through the window and the sun shone onto Iruka-sensei's hitai-ate, making it glint furiously as he bent to pick up a folder from his desk. The light glared into her eyes and she scrunched up her face, her vision fading into darkness as her lids closed over her pupils. For a moment there was nothing but blackness and the sound of the last students settling into their seats.

Haruno Sakura nestled into her chair between Naruto and Sasuke-kun, feeling tired. After the run against Ino-pig and the tremendous beat-up she just gave Naruto (with the help of several of Sasuke-kun's fan-girls, of course) she was feeling quite tired and in need of a rest. She couldn't wait to get home and take a long, hot bath! Her parents were away for the week – if she was luck they would not come back until Friday and she'd have a nice, long and relaxing week ahead of her, without her dad constantly surprising her in the morning with a shuriken to the head or her mom loading her plate with food she could not eat. She was on a diet, dammit!

After all, Sasuke-kun hated fat girls.

_But he likes long hair_, Sakura thought, as she fiddled with a strand of her bubblegum pink tresses.

Then she opened her emerald eyes and her gaze fell upon her most fearsome rival. Sakura's frown became more pronounced as her hand clenched reflexively and scrunched up her pretty hair. The pig had her hands around Shikamaru Nara's shoulders, violently shaking him awake.

_If there is anyone_, Sakura thought bitterly, _who can make that look graceful it is she._

Where Sakura had soft features and childish proportions that gave her the aspect of a weird fairy-like cherub, Ino Yamanaka had the grace of a swan and features that matched the delicate perfection of her poise. She flicked her almost platinum hair over her shoulder as she turned away from the dizzy Nara and spoke to Hikari, a fellow fan girl, never faltering in the change between rage and composure. She was a queen and, to her subjects (the rest of the fan girls in Konoha), she would show no weakness.

Haruno Sakura turned away from the show with disgust. Long ago the two of them had been friends; best friends, even. There where still whispers in her mind of secrets shared and hide and seek and the gentle acceptance the blonde had given her with no qualms. She had felt safe and cherished and cared for in a way her parents hadn't been able to give her no matter how much they tried: she had felt the joy of having a real friend.

And then it crashed and burned. Worse: it was all her fault.

_**That bitch had as much a part in it as us and you know it!**_

The other voice in her head startled the girl into awareness but before she could answer, Iruka-sensei's voice cut through.

"Team Seven: Sakura Haruno…"

Iruka paused, mentally swearing at whoever arranged the teams. He had enough experience with the three of them in class to know this group had "recipe for disaster" written all over it. He almost giggled with muted horror and shock when he saw who their jounin instructor was.

There was only one explanation, he thought: whoever had decided to put the three most dysfunctional genin in his graduating class together under the care of a traumatized war veteran and retired ANBU had been out of his fucking mind or on some serious drugs. There was simply no way the Hokage had approved this team.

He shifted his eyes quickly to the bottom of the page and saw, with a sinking feeling, the Professor's seal on the left edge. He took a deep breath and cursed himself for getting drunk with Anko the night before and collapsing onto his couch before revising the team selection, as he should have. He put his gears into work and rationalized the situation.

He supposed it made sense to put the last Uchiha with Sharingan Kakashi, but what about Naruto-kun? Haruno Sakura?

Naruto's position as dead last could have moved him into any of the groups that held the 3 strongest members of the class – it did not have to be Sasuke's. However much the other clans may protest about the Jinchuriki's position on the same team as their own clans' progenitors, the truth of the matter was that there was only one Uchiha left, and his life was far more valued that the other children's. It left a bitter taste on his tongue, but if the Council were going to have an issue with Naruto's placement on any team, it would be Sasuke's, not anyone else's.

So why had Sarutobi-sama made a move against the Council by putting the two boys together? _Especially_ knowing they hated each other?

Then the issue of Sakura became apparent. She was an only child from a clan less family; her parents where shinobi, a jounin father with no special characteristics who went on missions when required and a chunnin mother who stayed at home and completed missions mostly inside the village. They were as standard a family as they could be: Konoha had many families of shinobi who led normal lives unless taken by disease or a mission gone wrong. It was sad, but not tragic. The parents could die any day in one of the missions and the world, except for a little pink-haired child, would not end.

Neither would it stop for the death of their 12 year old daughter, was she so unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught between the power of an unleashed Kyuubi and whichever assassin came to murder Naruto or Sasuke…

…_Or Copy Cat Kakashi_, he muttered in his mind. Suddenly he felt very tired and very old.

Haruno Sakura was a scapegoat for clans who would not tolerate that any of their children were put into the same team as three targets when it could be avoided. Never mind her innocence and her parents, who would grieve for her if she died and hate the blond child even more.

Iruka felt the weight of 12 years of secrets on his shoulders and knew they would soon all rest on a little girl's possibly dead body, along with the lives of so many people massacred one lonely night. What bad luck the child had, to be placed in such a dangerous position besides a Jiinchuriki (although he doubted Naruto-kun would dare hurt a hair on her crown), the Last Uchiha and have one of the most wanted men alive for a sensei.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Belatedly he realized he'd stayed silent too long and coughed awkwardly into his hand. "Yes, uuh… Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Your instructor is Hatake Kakashi."

He grinned for about a millisecond before Naruto protested the "Teme"'s placement on his team, and he prepared to give a watered down and _severely edited_ explanation.

At least it would be fun to watch them sit anxiously for hours before that bastard lazy-ass jounin arrived. He always had a knack for arriving later than one learned to expect from him.

* * *

.

Uzumaki Naruto surveyed the room as he listened to Iruka's voice. Whoever decided to name him the dead last had obviously not taken into account the two idiots at the second to front row who were now trying to discretely pin a needle into sensei's seat. They had tied a semi-transparent chord of _something_ to the object, and were in the process of throwing it quickly onto the seat and then tugging softly until the bottom rested on the chair and the point looked up to the ceiling. They seemed to think it would remain upright if they just willed it too.

Idiots. As Naruto expected, the needle kept falling and they kept retrieving it from the seat with the shiny strand coming from one of the kid's fingers. It seemed like a nifty thing to have, he thought. He would probably ask them where they got it from if it wasn't because they hated him so much.

Especially now that he knew why they hated him so much.

He poured his concentration back into what Iruka-sensei was saying. So the balance of the team meant he got Sasuek-teme? That was so unfair!

"That's so unfair! I don't wanna be in the same team as that idi-!"

"Naruto! Don't use that language in my class!"

"Naruto-baka! Don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that!"

He saw the teacher wincing and felt the blow to his head simultaneously. From the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw the teme smirk.

That motherfucking asshole.

He rubbed his head tenderly as he turned to stare at Sakura-chan. His eyes first met with Iruka-sensei, and the chunin gave him a small guilty smile and a shrug. A sort of _what can I do? You told me not to stop her._

And Naruto had. Long ago, when the abuse from Sakura-chan had first started Iruka had, in one of his few moments of fairness at that point in his life, punished Sakura for being violent towards him. It was more of a "no violence allowed" policy they had in class than any real effort to protect him, but Naruto had quickly explained to the teacher that it had been his fault, and to please not punish Sakura-chan ever again if she hit him again. Iruka had agreed then because he didn't care about the boy, but now Naruto could see he regretted making that promise.

Uzumaki Naruto didn't.

_There is something horribly beautiful_, he thought, _in Sakura-chan when she is angry._

The blond boy had lived his whole life observing his surroundings. Being alienated since a young age meant that he'd done enough self-analysis to last a lifetime long ago, and it hadn't helped him much nor had it explained any of the problems he had in his life, at least those he was aware of. He had therefore turned to observing others in an effort to learn what no one would teach him: human interaction.

Throughout his years he'd seen almost every possible range of emotion, from crying mothers babying their kids to sniggering old men stealing from their clients; happy children playing in the park to terrifying drunks who swayed and changed moods more quickly than anyone else he'd ever seen. He'd seen the prostitutes in his district seduce men twice their age and chase away young adults with empty pockets. The Oroike No Jutsu wasn't born from nothing.

Most of all, he'd seen the hate-filled glances people sent at him every single day of his life. He had once tried to ignore them, but ignoring was harder than accepting and soon he found himself getting used to the violence and abuse that went along with the hate. By the age of six, he knew hate so personally he might have named it his only friend.

So when Sakura first hit him, he'd been anticipating it with the singular disappointment of a child disenchanted from the possibility of a friend. He'd lifted his eyes and stared at her while she raised her arm, expecting to see his dear friend portrayed in her eyes, the same friend that greeted him every day in dozens of others.

Behind her there was a crowd of students cheering for the girl, her best friend Ino crying her support and the rest of the class quietly disinterested. In front of him was Haruno Sakura, her pink her swaying with the wind, little fist raised high and forehead standing out prominently against her green eyes. Green eyes, Naruto realized, with tears gathering at the corners.

In the seconds of hesitation before the blow landed, Naruto had the clear impression that Sakura had felt _bad_ for hitting him. That she hadn't _wanted_ to.

At his tender age of seven, it was a novel experience for a child who was angrily beaten daily. He developed his first crush, misguided and toxic; because hurt was all he knew and he'd once been told that little children pulled the hair of the kid they liked. He figured it applied to this sort of situation.

Now, at the age of twelve, the Sakura in front of him had clear anger in her eyes directed at him, but for a boy who knew hate so personally, he also knew she did not hate him the way the rest of the village did. She was annoyed by him, clearly, and had no qualms in hitting him (even if her punches where barely strong enough to hurt – she'd never been the strongest of the girls), but there was none of the pleasurable sadism he saw in other people's eyes when they gazed at him.

Sakura huffed and turned towards Sasuke, cooing and giggling. Naruto saw the boy tense and look away, ignoring her. He sighed; he didn't know what she saw in the bastard.

As he stared hard at the black-haired genin, an idea started forming in his head. Slowly, Naruto grinned.

It was time to gather some information. And, if a certain someone got pranked, that was just the icing on the cake.

* * *

.

Uchiha Sasuke sat on the floor of his apartment, fighting the ropes on his body.

When he found that idiot he would pay… _dearly_.

* * *

.

He giggled under his breath as he walked towards the bench where he could se Sakura-chan was seated, looking lonesome. He quickly arranged his face into what he considered was his poker face; on Sasuke's features, he imagined it looked very much like his normal face.

He reclined on a tree in front of her, wondering how long it would take for her to look at him. He felt his control over the illusion slipping and tightened it further. How long would this take? He had only just gotten a hang on Henge…

When she finally lifted her eyes, she looked stunned. He assumed there were few times Sasuke would talk to her, let alone look at her. She blushed prettily, and he wondered what she was thinking about…

"You," he started. "Have such a large, charming forehead."

She still looked like a fish, with her mouth opening and closing.

"Makes me want to kiss it." He finished.

Her eyes seemed to water with unshed tears, and her lips started to tremble. Oh shit, he thought. Maybe I read this situation the wrong way? I could've sworn she would be happy with that!

"I-It sounds like something Naruto would say, right?" He tried out for a cool and collected tone, but probably sounded constipated.

Speaking of constipated, he felt his hold on the illusion loosening, so he quickly moved on.

"What do you think of Naruto?" He sat beside her, moving to rest his arms on his knees, like he'd seen Sasuke do millions of times. He wanted to look at her, but Sasuke never did, so…

"He's always getting in the way when I do something important, and he enjoys seeing me struggle." Her voice startled him, and he finally looked at her. She had her hair shielding her face from him, head tilted downwards. "Naruto doesn't understand anything about me. He's just annoying. All I want is…"

He couldn't believe that's what she thought of him? Did he really mess things up for her? And granted he knew little about her, but he knew a lot about her personality and-

"For you to acknowledge me."

She glanced at him from behind her hair. He looked slightly afraid, but his cheeks were flushed red and she could feel his chakra going a little haywire. It seemed familiar, as it should, because Sasuke-kun was her world and she knew him top to bottom.

"I'm absolutely serious about this." She gulped. "I would do anything, because I like you," she blushed, "a_ lot_."

Their faces were growing so close together. She felt his rapid breath on her cheeks and his heart was beating so fast he didn't know whether he would make it because what if she was bad at it? No one had taught her how to kiss would be his first one; he hoped to Kami the illusion lasted forever, the moment would never end for her.

Ten centimeters apart, Naruto felt a stirring in his bowels. He thought it was the excitement.

Five centimeters apart, he realized excitement had nothing to do with it, and bolted to the nearest bathroom.

Sakura felt the chakra disruption occur before the air around Sasuke's body shimmered. Then he stammered out an excuse as he fled from the bench where they were seated _so so close_ seconds ago.

She blinked. She felt the stirrings of warm, heavy anger making its way from the bottom of her stomach up to her chest and took several calming breaths. In and out, slowly, like her father had taught her. _Rein it in Sakura_, she could almost hear him, _close the door to the fury and breathe._

**Fuck that. **

Her scream tore the silence around the passage as she cursed and cursed Naruto Uzumaki to hell. The trees shivered with her anger, the leaves of spring sprouting even as she suffered through her disgust. She'd felt that chakra before, so many times in class when he failed to create a perfect Henge. She'd felt it swarming the class because the idiot didn't know how to control his reserves. Figures that the one time he finally produces a successful illusion it's her precious Sasuke-kun's face.

Sakura was angrier with herself, though, because she'd bought into it so easily_. I should know better_, she thought. _It's Sasuke-kun. He's everything to me! How could I not know? _

**Because we were distracted by his gorgeous face getting closer and closer to ours! Imagine those lips… **

She blushed at the image the voice provided. She shrugged it off and thought about the conversation she just had with the idiot.

_So that's why he was asking about Naruto… well, himself, I guess. _

Well, everything she'd told him was true. The moron didn't understand anything about her, he only bothered her about dates and cared more about _being_ the center of attention than _paying_ attention in class and getting good grades. He'd get nowhere in life like that.

_Dead last is so appropriate_, she thought.

Sakura heard footsteps behind her. Flipping her hair, she turned and saw him: the real Sasuke-kun.

**OMG OMG OMG! TALK TO HIM!**

"Sasuke-kun! Why don't yo-"

"I have to go. Where's Naruto?" He interrupted her. Kami, he had no time for this. Wherever that idiot had gone he must be destroying his reputation and blemishing the Uchiha name. That asshole would not get away with it.

_Who did he think he was, anyway? What would make him go against me, an Uchiha?_

The moment he'd heard the team's being announced, he had realized this was the world trying to screw with him. No matter that he had already so much baggage. _Let's throw some more on, shall we?_ He could practically hear Destiny mocking him, taunting him with the liberty of finally being a shinobi before handcuffing him to two morons who had no skill and would only slow him down.

He absolutely despised Naruto, what with his disastrous grades and obnoxious behavior. He couldn't wait to get away from the blond the moment the team was broken up. Because it would, it had to. He had faith the Council would make sure of it.

From the little he remembered about his father's teachings, the Council, who were really only the two advisors to the Hokage, was like the mastermind behind most of the village's actions. The pair had earned that title by having the power to sway or undermine the Clan Heads, the supposed ring of power over the village. The Clan Heads, however, were limited to voting, while the Council where the only two people who could make decisions at a snap of a finger without consulting anyone but the Hokage.

He had realized early one that being the last Uchiha would benefit him in some ways, bring him closer to his goal and one step further into his vengeance. So long as the Council treasured him and gave him the means to grow, he would be their lackey. He remembered the early days after the massacre, when going to the Academy was an automatic reaction, not a conscious decision on his part but an instinct ingrained after 3 years of attending that hellhole. When he got out of his spunk, he decided that instead of leaving the Academy he would make the most of it, please the Council and they would reward him with the best instruction they could offer the moment he got out.

He just wanted the Jounin. He didn't realize the package included a team of idiots.

"…He doesn't have parents!" Sasuke stopped short. He looked at the pink blob on the edge of his vision. So she was still talking? He couldn't remember her name; only that she was one of the many bothersome fan girls that assaulted him every once in a while. It disgusted him.

Why would they even think he was interested? They had no skills as ninja, no sort of brain under their freakishly perfect hair-do's (He always wondered how much time they dedicated to those things. What a waste). They were vapid, and he disliked them.

There was only one person he was interested in and if everything went right, in a few years time that person would be dead.

"He can do whatever he wants. If I acted like that, my parents would ground me for months!" He tensed even further. So besides being vapid, the girl was an idiot. He vaguely remembered that this girl would be in his team, and he sighed mentally.

"He's so lucky, all alone, no parents to say what to do and what not to do!"

… _What did you just say?_

Sasuke had not felt so much anger in a very long time. However little he cared for the girl had now plummeted to a steady despise. He felt something sinister enter his eyes as he turned to stare at the stupid girl who would now become another baggage to drag him down.

Sakura grinned charmingly at him, her eyes glimmering with her devotion. Sasuke-kun was so cool! He had that mysterious aura and everything!

"All _alone_…"

She blinked. "Huh… S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Loneliness: it's not something being _scolded_ by your parents can _compare_ with."

Sakura shivered. There was something so utterly wrong in his voice, so cold and frigid. She'd never heard her Sasuke-kun talk like that! He turned and his black eyes stared into her soul.

But unlike last time, she didn't feel at all warm.

"You… _annoy the hell out of me_."

Then Sasuke turned and walked on, never looking back.

He couldn't wait until his team got disbanded. He honestly. Couldn't. _Wait. _

* * *

.

The shinobi scratched his scalp, feeling the tingling on his neck that usually shadowed the appearance of a threat. He didn't tense, though, because he was Hatake Kakashi and nothing bothered him unless it involved his favorite reading material. He gave a contented sigh as he flipped another page.

Koneko-chan was so naughty!

The air on his left dispersed as what he felt was a chunnin level shunshin occurred beside him. He didn't bother to lift his head, and continued reading his Icha Icha. It had just gotten to such a juicy chapter…!

"You are the most infuriating man to get a hold on!" A gasping voice stammered, and Umino Iruka tiredly dropped to his heels in front of him. "Do you know how much I've run trying to locate you? Apparently Jounin like playing games with the moron's that dare look for you." Iruka expected something, a laugh at his self-deprecation, even an eye-roll.

Silence.

Kakashi flipped a page. He _giggled_.

Was this the man supposed to take care of three of his most precious students? Iruka looked at the grey-haired man perched languidly on top of the Hokage monument, swinging his leg over the Third's hitae-ate and sniggering into his hand as he read the most perverted book known in the Fire Country.

He sighed. He'd wanted to avoid this conversation but there was too much riding on the performance of this Jounin. If there was even a chance…

Naruto had always been his favorite, in the way the class clown was looked at fondly after his departure and because of the recent events that pulled them even closer together. He'd just come from lunch at Ichiraku's with him, and the blond was so excited to be genin that he couldn't burst his bubble and tell him that his instructor would most likely fail them, like the rest of the team's put under his care.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had surfed through the chunnin's class like he lived on another plane of existence. He was the number one Rookie, but only because he set his own limits, not because he aimed to please anyone but himself. The few times Iruka had tried to reach out for the boy he had been knocked back by a glare and the silent treatment, and he couldn't very well treat him like any other child when the Council treated him like a precious object not to be touched. He wasn't as concerned about him though: Kakashi would keep Sasuke, even if he failed Naruto and Sakura. The Council would make sure of that.

If he was absolutely honest, the best result the pink-haired girl should aim for would be to get out of that team immediately. He'd always had a soft spot for her, being one of the few children in his class who wasn't an heir or part of any ninja clan. He respected her disposition in his theory classes, even if her grades on physical education left a lot to desire. She was a lonely child who once had friends, then lost them to a power struggle between girls and became alone in a very particular way. She had acquaintances and peers, but he'd never seen the girl converse particularly long with anyone in the class. She usually sat in front of the class or, if she made it, besides Sasuke. They never spoke, however, because she was always concentrated in his teachings and he never answered if she tried to start a conversation.

She had a mean streak when provoked though, which further alienated her from her peers. The only one completely unflappable to her violence was Naruto; the brat had a crush on her as big as the moon and no matter how much she hit him he kept getting back up again and with more resolve than ever. He'd have to ask Naruto about that at some point. Maybe now that they had a better relationship, he'd open up to him? Goodness knew the kid needed some sort of parental guidance…

_And_, Iruka thought, looking at the man in front of him, _I doubt he will be getting it from this guy. _

"Kakashi-san, I hope you forgive me, but I wanted to talk to you about your team. Your Genin team? See I was their instructor in the Academy and, well…" Iruka saw that Kakashi still looked as uninterested as possible. "…I hope you realize how important it is that you treat them properly."

At this, the silver-haired jounin looked at him. There was awareness in his eyes that had been missing moments before. "You think… I'll treat them badly?"

A warning.

"Ah, no-! I just-" Breathe. "Naruto-kun doesn't deal well with rejection." Kakashi tilted his head. "So if you fail them, as I've heard you've failed every single team before, please be considerate.

"I don't think the Hokage has explained the situation as fully as he could have. The reports on the three children are as biased as they could possibly be. Sasuke's is all praise because he's the last Uchiha and even if he has a lot of potential he also has many issues to work through. Naruto's file is full of prejudice for what he holds inside of him and," Iruka paused, "I'll be the first to admit that I was guilty of the same until not long ago. Sakura's is probably the most true to her character, but she has skills with chakra that have barely been touched upon by her teachers, including me."

Kakashi stared at him, contemplative. "If you're so sure I'll fail them, then why the reminder of their strengths and weaknesses? According to you I won't be teaching them."

"Because I'm crazy and I think there's a chance you'll pass them."

Umino Iruka had been recompiling his knowledge on these three students since the moment he announced Team 7 to the class. A loudmouthed brat isolated by what he held, a broody survivor of a massacre from which he never recovered and a naïve obnoxious girl with violent tendencies more concerned with her beauty than her skills as a kunoichi; the three of them as anti-social as they could get, whether by choice or not.

They shouldn't be able to make it through Kakashi's test. They shouldn't last a second. Unless…

"If there is a chance," he said, looking directly into Kakashi's eyes, "that all three of them end in your care… I beg of you, look further than what they seem to be."

Iruka didn't notice Kakashi stiffen, and instead continued. "You'll be responsible for them then. They will answer to you."

He bid Kakashi farewell, and jumped away from the monument while whispering, "Don't make the same mistakes I did."

And Kakashi was left alone.

* * *

.

Far away, in the Hokage's Tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen contemplated the reports in front of him. The three genin - one smiling, the other blankly staring, and the last one painted such an atrocious red and white - looked at him from inside their ID photos.

Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto would officially become Team 7 if they passed Hatake Kakashi's bell test tomorrow.

He sighed heavily as he reclined into his seat. The years felt heavy nowadays. There was a time when his bones would not creek or stammer as he moved, when he was a fine, polished blade ready for anything. That time has passed, he thought. His senses had not dulled but his body, while willing, had a harder time following his instincts.

This time his gut told him that Team 7 would make it. At least for a little while - no one knew better than he that Death relished in the young ones. There was so much steeped against them...

But if there was something the Third Hokage had learned in all his years was that Misery loved company, and here where the three loneliest people in Konoha. They would somehow get along.

And the girl? Well... Sarutobi had problems bigger than kunoichi who slipped between the pages of history. She would be a footnote; nothing wrong with that.

The ANBU guarding the window of the Kage's office sniffed. The scent of grass reached his nostrils. The sun shone above. Below him, he heard children playing in the streets. He smiled.

Spring had come.

* * *

TBC

I hope you guys like this! First real attempt at a multi-chapter story - I'm actually extremely scared.

Anyway, a few explanations:

1. I apologize for any triggers people may have seen in the Naruto part of this chapter. The truth is that to me, hemust have suffered not only alienation but severe abuse – other Jinchuriki like Bee don't seem to have the same sort of muted response to pain like Gaara or Naruto, who did suffer for what they are. I apologize if it is a sensitive subject for some people, but it is important that I highlight his response to hate and abuse, as it's the only explanation I can find for his twisted crush on Sakura. It will develop into a healthier bond with her; so don't worry, as will the other relationships in and outside of Team 7.

2. Sakura will not remain vapid. Yes, she's my favorite character in the manga so it will be Sakura-intensive, as you can see in this chappy. I know I portray her very meanly right now but the whole point of this story is that they all have some sort of development. This is where she starts, and it will take time before she changes into a better version of herself but it. will. happen.

3. Not many changes in terms of power or training, at least not yet. I have a sort of clear idea of where I want this to go, so I'll be working slowly but surely towards that. There will be no crazy power ups, and the story will remain pretty much canon up until... well, I can't tell you that yet.

4. There will be changes to the storyline, but again, not many. This part of the story will be more internal than external, meaning A LOT of introspection and character analysis. They will be interacting with more people than in the manga though, and there will be more fleshing out of their relationships.

5. NO PAIRINGS. At least not for now. I'm a huge sasusaku fan (CHAPTER 685 PEOPLE YAASSS) but this story doesn't blend well with that at the moment. It doesn't mean that Sakura will suddenly stop liking Sasuke or that Naruto will get over his crush on Sakura. These are important parts of their personalities and so instead of throwing them to the trash I'll just nudge them a bit, clean them up and solidify the bonds between the three of them while leaving the attraction and romance as a side dish for a while.

6. Kakashi will be a lot more in sync with the rest of Team 7. He plays a very important part in this story, so he'll be growing too.

7. Iruka won't be featured prominent. Frankly, I used him more as a catalyst in this chapter. He'll kind of be the measuring ruler against which I'll be placing Team 7 at random times, so that you can all have a perspective on how much they're changing. But it won't be a fast change. Also, even though he sounds kind of cold here, it's mostly him explaining the views everyone else who hates Naruto, loves Sasuke and ignores Sakura has. They're not his views. Hope that shines through.

8. Yes, Sarutobi is an asshole. He's also in charge of a Hidden Ninja Village which he handles with a very strong War-time mindset. He kinda needs to be an asshole for that, and Sakura is really a side note in his plans.

Anywho, hope you like it! I'll try to update regularly but frankly, that's not very probably. Hope I don't disappoint!

Read and Review please! Follow and Favorite and all those other pretty things! It'll make my day :)

Chrys.


	2. Spring: Tragic Failure of Hatake Kakashi

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, favorites and follows! So glad you like this story. Keep it up and I will too, I promise.

Here's the continuation of The Four Seasons – The Unlucky Formation of Team 7

Disclaimer: I still don't own. _Anything. _

* * *

Chapter 2 - The Tragic Failure of Hatake Kakashi

_Spring_.

Uzumaki Naruto had always been a bright boy. Ever since he could remember (not that he had a very good memory), he'd been pulling pranks on several higher-ranking shinobi and _never once_ had they failed him. So when a certain someone said that their jounin instructor would not fall for the classic prank of the chalk eraser on the edge of the door frame, he was reasonably pissed off.

And his anger had nothing to do with who was the idiot who insulted his art and his need of getting that cocky smirk off his face and showing him who was the boss.

The blond sniggered as he distracted himself, placing the eraser slowly and gently on the top of the frame, making sure the precarious balance was just so. He had a lot of experience with this, anyway, so of course it would work. It always did.

He quickly jumped back down from the desk he'd been using to reach that far up, and noisily rearranged it into its place in the classroom. He busied himself by giggling and rubbing his hands until he realized that the teacher wasn't coming any time soon. Then he sat on a chair directly in front of the door and waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

The 2 minutes Naruto had been sitting in that chair had just become the two most agonizing minutes in his life. He was dying! This won over any bruise he'd ever sported.

When before it had been a joke to him, the thought was sobering now that he knew the reason for their abuse.

He awkwardly tapped his hands on the table. After walking home the day Mizuki-sensei had told him the truth and after a heart-felt talk with Iruka-sensei he had showered to get out all the grim in his hair and skin and looked down while rubbing his golden locks with the frigid water. He had never given two thoughts on the conditions of his apartment: most of it was his own fault, because he never cleaned and had ramen cups thrown all over the place. But now, simple things like the lack of hot water, the cold in the wintertime when the heater didn't work…

It made more sense than he cared to admit, especially when the kids of 401c always laughed sharply and taunted him about his living conditions whenever he saw them in the hallway. They lived next door and not once had a complaining sound been moaned about their water or their electricity, and they complained about_ everything_, from the hookers outside to the apparently horrible food their mother prepared for them. The walls were thin, and Naruto had always had good hearing.

He thought they were lucky. They had a mother and nice homemade food and the hookers weren't bad people, he actually found them really funny when he could get away with listening into their conversations without being seen.

He learned really quickly not to repeat what he heard, though.

Naruto leaned back, swinging his feet over onto the desk and balancing on two feet of his chair. He spied Sasuke-teme rolling his eyes at him and Sakura looking almost pensive.

He figured he had to deal with his feelings on the Kyuubi issue pretty quick. Experience told him that the more he let things build the more they would explode outwards and he learned early on that was not an acceptable thing, especially when survival depended on keeping his cool in matters of getting food and supplies for the Academy. Jiji never minded his tempers, but it just seemed like disrespect in the face of the man who gave him everything. He'd seen children get spanked for less than what he'd said sometimes, and he rather not try his luck.

(Sakura-chan flicked her hair back, a determined look on her face.)

But Naruto just could not… process it all, which was saying something. He adapted pretty quickly, he knew, but the idea of having a demon, the demon who attacked and killed half of his village locked inside of him… That every hateful look sent his way had reason, had _meaning_ and _value_…

(The Teme shuffling his knuckles under his chin.)

He felt a gut-wrenching twist in his belly and wondered, for the first time but not the last in his life, if the Kyuubi was hungry.

_Click_. The door to the room was swung open and a mop of silver hair popped through. Dirty white chalk fell directly onto it seconds later.

Silence.

"HAHAHAHA! WHAT DID I TELL YOU, SASUKE-TEME! HE FELL FOR IT!"

"I'm so sorry, I tried to stop him, really!" _Naruto-baka!_

"Hn." _This is a jounin?_

"My first impression of you guys… " Pause. Eye smile. "I hate you all."

* * *

.

Sharingan Kakashi had a very unflappable personality.

It took a lot to ruffle his feathers or in his case, his shiny silver hair of which he took great care but tried his mighty hardest to seem effortlessly unaware about. He walked with a conscious slowness that had taken years to perfect and the lazy swagger of his head when he bothered to look up from his porn was a study in uninterested attention. He even flipped the pages of his pocketbook with a pleasurable pause to feel the coarseness of the grain.

Sharingan Kakashi did not stutter. Copy Cat Kakashi did not stumble or stare.

But when the lowly chunin that was Umino Iruka told him to "_look further than what they seem to be_", it was Hatake Kakashi, the man who tried his hardest to find a team worthy of his memories, whom reacted with a stunned stare.

When he continued with "_they will be in your care. You will be responsible for them_", it was _Kakashi_, the boy who had lost his three most precious people years ago, whom reacted with a choked intake of breathe after the shinobi had left him alone.

For however much he had buried his broken pieces under his savvy persona of half pervert and half shinobi genius (both of which he was, no doubt), there were still certain things that brought it all back like it was yesterday that Minato-sensei was saying goodbye before his sacrifice to the village, yesterday that Rin was dying in his arms, yesterday that Obito was smiling at him from below a boulder.

And the drums. The songs lifting the air around him.

Hatake Kakashi sighed softly, shaking his head away from the bad thoughts. It was probably the composition of his team, he thought, looking at the three of them trudging up the stairs onto the roof of the Academy where he was waiting for them, so tiny and weak.

Uzumaki Naruto had his father's sky blue eyes and his mother's ecstatic smile. He was full of energy even then, shuffling his legs as he sat and bouncing off the balls of his feet. He was also very much aware of his surroundings, Kakashi noticed, if he was to take the constant glances to his teammates to be and to himself seriously. That Hokage-sama had decided to put him on his team, though… was he hoping he would finally bow down and chose the team without putting them through the wringer? He hoped the old man wasn't because he would be severely disappointed.

"I want you guys to introduce yourselves. Your dreams, aspirations, likes, dislikes, etc." He started, and then sighed when they looked at him blankly.

"Um… Why don't you start first, sensei? So as to give us an example!"

Haruno Sakura, who had just spoken to his left, had the air of a child-model put into a poster promoting kunoichi recruitment. She looked sufficiently skinny to appease the aesthetics of the civilian masses and had the quirky sort of looks that could work well for mothers inscribing their civilian children. Most of all, she looked like a joke of a shinobi, all shiny combed hair and well-kept constricting clothes; a mock-up of what real kunoichi were about.

He wondered about The Council's choice of putting her in his team.

"All right: Well, my name's Hatake Kakashi and I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams of the future, hm… I have lots of hobbies."

Silence. In the distance, a bird began to sing.

"Ok! Your turn."

Naruto leapt at the chance to speak about himself. "Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup Ramen, and Iruka-sensei! I like them both even more when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen! I dislike the three minutes that it takes for ramen to boil and my dream is…"

Kakashi wanted to cry. _What? Ramen? Is this that all Minato's sacrifice boils down to? _

But Naruto had gone silent for seconds; long seconds, enough for Sakura to notice in her effort of being more aware of her teammates and for Sasuke to have a moment of bliss in the silence; seconds in which Naruto made an important decision concerning his life from then on.

"And my dream is to surpass the Hokage and then… have the people of this village acknowledge my existence!" He scratched his head while wearing a grin. "Hobbies… pranks, I guess."

Kakashi stared at the blond child, imagining the man he might turn into with some luck. _How funny your son's turned out to be,_ _Minato-sensei_, he thought, shifting his attention towards the only girl in their group. "And you, pinky?"

A vein popped on her head, and he gave her props for holding her temper; if the reports were correct, it took a lot less for her to fire off. She started, and then stopped. And started again. And stopped.

Kakashi sighed. "I'll come back to you when you figure out your life." With a nod towards Sasuke, he silently asked him to begin.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And… I can't really call it a dream… But I have an ambition."

The jounin felt he knew where this was going.

"The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."

_He's twelve years old_, he thought, _and already conspiring murder_. Kakashi had hoped they had left all this behind with the war and the Kyuubi, but it seemed demons would always plague the unluckiest.

He knew he would end up with the last Uchiha on his team whether he wanted him or not. Before, there were not many shinobi who could teach someone how to properly use the Sharingan outside of the Uchiha Clan– after Obito's death, Kakashi had been left alone to figure out all the kinks of his new eye, and it had cost him many wounds and precious time. He had been very much banned from entering the Uchiha Compound and the little Shisui could explain to him was severely limited by the rules of his clan. After the Uchiha Massacre, there was currently no one with a better working knowledge of this eye of his than he, and it ached to know the wealth of knowledge the child in front of him had about the Sharingan in his abandoned family compound. Maybe if he taught him, when the time came he would be able to steal some information for himself; specially how to deactivate it. There had to be a way…

With a sigh, he turned towards Sakura. "And you?"

She started. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like… someone," Blush. "And reading books and studying. I dislike pigs and flowers. And Naruto." At this, the blond face dropped onto the floor. "I don't have any hobbies… and my dreams involve… someone." Again, blush.

Kakashi wanted to face-palm. Honestly, whatever strength Umino said she had would be no good if she simply didn't care about her training. He wondered if he could drop her and keep the other two…?

_Never mind, I'll still end up with the Uchiha and Naruto will end up in better care somewhere else. _

So Sharingan Kakashi explained the rules and prepared to fail them all the next day. He was good at that, at failing people.

It always worked.

* * *

.

Sakura did not understand their sensei-to-be.

One look at his gravity-defying hair and she knew they had gotten the cool package, the savvy, almost lazy intelligence that was Hatake Kakashi. Her father had spoken to her about him, on the days when she was bored and he had more than enough stories to share. Her mother had always sighed when they mentioned him and that was weird and Sakura knew very improper, but she had never asked and nor did she have any plans to do so soon.

So her teacher was hot, for an older dude. _Deal with it, mom_.

What was more interesting to her, who already had her heart stolen by Sasuke-kun, was how she was going to beat the odds on this survival training. Every time her father spoke about his accomplishments, he never once mentioned him as a good teacher, or even having a genin team. Sakura had done some research after she had left the Academy rooftop – Mori-obasan was such a kind lady and she always tried her best to help her find what she needed. This time her method of information gathering was no different, even if it yielded different results.

"Kakashi-kun?" The old woman's eyes widened like orbs.

"Uh…"

"Oh my! How the time flies by! It feels like yesterday he was sitting right there with his team…" Her wizened eyes crinkled at the edges, soft and sad.

After an inordinate amount of silence, which Sakura had already accepted as the lady's remembrance time, she cleared her throat. "Um… Mori-san?"

"Oh!" She looked at the twelve-year-old girl before her. "Of course! Well, seems to me they still teach at the Academy like they used to in the old days…"

Sakura was stunned. Never in her six years of coming to the library had she imagined Mori-san as anything more than a decrepit old lady, with a small walking stick that reached Sakura's hip to help her maneuver through out the gigantic library, who helped both shinobi and civilians alike to search through her books. Technically they were not really hers; they were the village's, but she had been the librarian since many shinobi of her generation could remember, and it was generally accepted that Mori-obasan had the right to shoo anyone she wanted from her library and prohibit certain books – and on occasion certain people – to leave the premises.

To be honest, she'd never seen the point of asking her about her life at all. Surely an old woman who practically lived in the library wasn't all that special?

_After all_, she thought, _many children go to the Academy. Only a few of them pass onto genin teams!_

"Tell me, Sakura-chan." Too brown eyes, faded with age, stared at the pink haired girl. "Do you know how many genin cross through these halls? How many Academy ninja?"

"Um… I imagine – a lot?"

"BuaHAHAHA!" The woman tilted her head to the roof and Sakura gave a startled jump. "You don't even know the half of it! I know the faces of almost every shinobi in this village. They've all crossed these halls, one way or another." She smiled. "They always need something from Mori obaa-san. And I always listen.

"You're not the first child to come to me asking about Kakashi-kun."

Her greens eyes grew wide. "I'm not? So he did have a genin team? That's why they were asking right? How to pass his test?"

"Calm down, child; always so impatient. Yes, they wanted to know how to pass his test. Yes, they wanted to ask about it, and…"

Mori-san, for the first time in Sakura's life, stared at her with such a piercing gaze that she felt dissected to her bones. No one had looked at her like that ever, and the closest she could think of it was earlier today, when Sasuke-kun was so frigid.

But this felt like a bullet to the brain. She felt her inside turn to mush while her then weak shinobi instincts ordered her to _run, to run away from that woman as fast as she could._

It came just as quickly as it left, the feeling, and Sakura was once again staring impatiently at the kind, old lady who'd helped her all those years.

"…And no, Kakashi-kun has never had a genin team under his wing."

"Say what?"

"Yes, quite an appropriate response, I guess." She laughed, and Sakura blushed. She thought she hadn't vocalized it.

"But I thought Kakashi-san had been jounin for a long time! And my father told me he's been an instructor for some years now!"

"And why do you think he doesn't have a squad _now_?"

"Well!... I!" Sakura had always thought he was just so good they promoted them quickly into chunin.

It seemed that was not the case.

"I can't tell you anything about the exam Sakura-chan, those are the rules. I'm sorry." But Mori-san did not look apologetic.

"It- It's ok. I'll figure it out."

She was already walking out of the library when she heard, "Don't you mean _we will figure it out_?"

But by the time she'd turned, Mori Obaa-san was nowhere to be found.

* * *

.

"Who where you talking to, Mori-san?"

"No one very important, not yet."

"…Yet?"

Mori Kogata saw the glimmer of interest enter her way-ward son's eyes before he was even aware of it. He was such a bore, never letting flowers bloom alone.

No, she wouldn't expose Sakura-chan to him unless with good reason.

"No – nothing you'd be very excited about. Now, you brat, you better make sure you eat that soup I made; it's getting cold!"

Sigh. "I'm eating, Mori-san, I really am."

"And what did I tell you about calling mi Mori-san? You out of all people…!"

"Wha-? But, Mori-san, you-"

"I wanna hear ya' say it! Okaasan. O-kaa-san!"

He felt this was going to be a long day.

* * *

.

Naruto was lost like a baby reindeer looking for his mom – not that he knew what that meant, he'd just heard it on the streets.

In any case, he had been rocking out sooo much in front of Sakura-chan until that idiot-sensei stuck his fingers up in ass! He knew he had him right where he wanted him and so that's why he'd used that technique. It was the lousiest trick in the book, and Naruto had practically written it.

(Which actually won a few points towards his sensei, but Naruto was too angry at the moment to tally the points in his "Important People to Be Aware of and Hold On To" list.)

But to think that he would actually out-prank him and he'd be hanging from his feet from a tree… That just broke Naruto's prankster heart.

Changes had to be made. Plans set in motion.

So when he finally got out of the damn ropes, he set of to find the only other person he could trust would throw a mean punch and whom he didn't absolutely abhor.

"SAKURA-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Naruto had already been searching for a good 20 minutes before he found a strand of pink hair on the floor. Checking quite quickly for traps – he wasn't about to be taken the micky out of a second time – he searched the bushes until he spotted the telltale scrunch marks of a ninja-sandal. Not only ninja-sandals but female sandals, where the heel dug more prominently than the sole and was a little bit narrower at the front and back. The grass was fresh and the marking very recent and that could only mean…

"Sakura-chan! I FOUND YOU! HOLD ON, let me just-"

_Crack_. "Idiot!" Hushed whisper. "You're going to get us killed!"

"Bu- But, Sakura-chan! Listen!"

"And why would I listen to you, baka?" Haruno Sakura said as she dragged him down into the bushed with her. He blushed at the proximity, but she bonked him on the head again and he quickly got over it. "You're the one who was tied up to a tree _in the first place_!"

Naruto wrinkled his nose, not happy to be reminded of that. "About that, I was just _unwares_ Sakura-chan, I swear! Next time we'll get him good!"

"Unwar- do you mean _unaware_? Where did you learn to speak so badly? Never mind, I don't care." Sakura shifted to look away from him, missing the cringe Naruto tried to conceal badly.

No one taught him; not exactly.

"And what the hell do you mean by _we_?"

Naruto grinned. "You, Sakura-chan, are gonna have the honor of helping me prank the idiot-sensei!"

The silence that followed was the longest in Naruto's life.

* * *

**.**

**Oh, this is going to be SICK!**

_Shut up, Inner. _

Sakura massaged her brows, trying to make sense of Naruto's plan. "So, let me get this straight: you want to steal Kakashi-san's book? Because he embarrassed you?"

"Yeah!" He was grinning so loudly she was sure the instructor could hear it stretching miles away. "Bastard has it coming…"

"Naruto! _Focus_! This is a test, _not a game_!"

The Uzumaki was stunned. He'd been yelled at many times by Sakura-chan, but not once had she had that shrill, desperate tone to her voice. It was loud and it was painful to hear.

Sakura slumped against the trunk of a large almond tree. So far, her day had not been good at all. She'd arrived at the training grounds, bento for Sasuke-kun in hand, ready to apologize for her words (or actions, she hadn't quite figured out what she'd done wrong, but she was sure there was a more prominent reason for Sasuke-kun's fury than just _her_ being _her_) and to offer the food as a present for when he inevitably succeeded with her. Naruto would obviously fail because, as the boy had so _beautifully_ shown before, he was an idiot.

Also, she didn't want to make bento for him. Yuck.

But then she was in front of the boy and she got nervous and practically shoved the bento into his face. He'd seemed so annoyed, sounding anything _but_ grateful when he said "Thanks, but I already have mine."

Seems he had the same idea of bringing his own lunch. No one knew how long the whole thing would last, so better be prepared!

But Sakura had been genuinely upset when Naruto was struck with the weird invented technique. What sort of ninja does that? Hand-signs aren't to play around with, and if her days at the academy had taught her anything it was that any small mistake could cost someone's life. She didn't think Copy Cat Kakashi (of whom her father had spoken so much about) would actually make that mistake, but her mind painted a very nasty picture of Naruto holding his scorched backside with third-degree burns…

Sakura shivered. After the image the jonin had sent her in the genjutsu, her mind had been adding very vivid images to her train of thought and none of them where pleasant. Now, Sakura acknowledged that a week ago – no. Even a day ago, the genjutsu would have caught her and she would have been trapped in it for a very long time, had it not knocked her out in the first place.

But for _the four godforsaken hours_ they'd been waiting for that _idiot-sensei_, as Naruto had very appropriately named him, yesterday, Sakura had been stuck with Sasuke-kun and Naruto alone, with nothing to do. And after being very much fooled by Naruto's illusion before (for which she still owed him a beat up and would have carried it out by now, had she not more important things to do) she decided she'd figure out how to never fall for something like that again.

It had been the most embarrassing moment in her life, _thankyouverymuch_.

She'd love to think that all her staring yesterday and all the familiarization with both of their chakras (four hours, _four damnable hours_) had resulted in her discovering the genjutsu quickly. Even her skills, which the teachers always praised, should have helped her figure it out.

But Sakura believed the illusion up until she saw Sasuke-kun bleeding: Sasuke-kun, bleeding onto the ground, missing one arm, knee bent backwards and trembling. Never had she seen Sasuke tremble.

For the first time in her life, Sakura was so afraid she couldn't move.

When she finally came to, she was lying on the ground, knees up and jerking inside rope bindings. When she finally realized it was an illusion she'd been under, she'd very much screamed all the things she hadn't screamed before.

So by now, having been freed by Naruto and taken in like an idiot into his plan, she had some pretty strong reasons for hating her sensei. Kami knew what that man has for a brain, if his idea of survival training for genin involved childish pranks and first-rate war trauma.

**Naruto's plan is sounding better and better, right?**

_Shut up. Just, shut up. _

She couldn't deal with this right now. She wanted to go home and cuddle into her bed, maybe read a nice story or even a history book, anything but this: being huddle close to Naruto under a bush, of all places, waiting to ambush a _jonin_, blocking the annoying voice in her head while searching for Sasuke-kun with her senses. She'd never thought she'd be a good sensor type – she'd never tried before, it wasn't an Academy requirement – and she was halfway right. So much of her strength with chakra lay in her spiritual energy and focusing it inwards that the process of expanding it outwards was a foreign concept for her body and her chakra coils. It hurt, a little bit, but with her control she got the hang of it quite quickly – she wouldn't get very far, anyway, with her small reserves.

And with the way this is going, none of us are going to get very far.

The sun was already high up in the sky and, by her estimation, they had about half and hour before the clock rang.

"Listen up, Naruto."

"Huh? Sakura-chan?"

"This isn't going to work." She ignored his sputtering remarks and silenced him. "He's probably busy with Sasuke-kun. We know he's confronted the both of us, so he must definitely be with him. I say we split up and search for him." She honestly just wanted to find Sasuke-kun first, and with her small field of sensing she'd find him faster. She hoped.

Naruto frowned. "How do I know you're not just gonna leave me?"

"I…! I won't." Sakura tried to hide her pause, but Naruto saw right through it. As she watched his eyes turn watery, she hurriedly added. "Just-! Make one of your clone-thingies scout for Sasuke-kun on the east side, and we'll go together."

Sakura sighed even as his eyes brightened. Damn those baby blue eyes.

Seems she was weak to her father's and Ino's and anyone else's. She never thought it would include Naruto, though.

* * *

.

When Naruto's clone found Sasuke, his head was already deep in the ground.

…

"HAHAHAHAHA! LOOK! SASUKE'S _DECAPATED_!"

"Dope, just help me get out of here, I don't want to listen to your idiocy!"

"OI! If I'm your only hope then you better fucking be nice to me!"

_You have to be kidding me. _

"…Just get me out of here, Naruto."

"I didn't hear pleaaaase, Sasuke-chan!"

"…_!_"

Giggle.

_Glare._

Chuckle.

_This is going to take a while._

* * *

.

"Ha≈aah, Sasuke-kun isn't here either! And I haven't seen Kakashi-san in a while…"

"Hey! Sakura-chan! There are some bento over there!"

"Wha≈ Nani?! Naruto _don_-"

_Crack. Sweep. _

"AAHH! FUCK!"

"DAMMIT NARUTO!"

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

* * *

.

"Mah… that wasn't very good, was it?"

Kakashi looked at the three genin in front of him from over the edge of his book. He wanted to sigh and shake his head and _scream_, dammit.

He'd expected too much from them: Minato-sensei's hated son and an orphan Uchiha and a clan-less girl.

"_They'll be in your care, then. They'll answer to you."_

Just for once, for once in his life _what_ _he would give_ for them to be more than they were, to be great and passionate and so full of potential he would have _no choice_ but to accept them. He wanted to be surprised, even a little. But all he'd gotten handed back where broken dreams and idiots who thought they could take him on their own. Idiots who didn't know what_ team_ even meant.

These were what they wanted him to turn into legends? Loners with nothing better but their own selfish desires? What was he supposed to do with that?

Kakashi wanted to take the Uchiha and leave running. Out of the three of them, that kid was something. Such strength at an age… he reminded him of his brother, ironically. He'd work well with him, if he had to. And then he wouldn't be given genin team's to fail like it was paperwork.

He felt the leaves rushing behind him, the soft whispers of wind on his nape. Turning away from the three children, one tied inevitably to the log, he breathed out a sigh while he contemplated the KIA stone.

However, after all those years, all those failures…

"_I beg of you…"_

_Obito… One last time, just for you._

* * *

.

Sakura heard Naruto's stomach growling beside her. Sasuke-kun and her had their packed lunches, but Kakashi-san had emptied all of the other bentos onto the ground in front of them.

"If the two who are allowed to eat have their own, you don't need any more."

She sighed. They had another chance; they could make this work! Had she listened to Naruto, or even Mori-san when she mumbled in the library… Sakura felt so stupid. Teamwork! Really.

A groan for Naruto's belly interrupted her thinking. She frowned. He kept saying that he was fine, and he could go so long without eating…. But didn't he run towards the food boxes in the first place? And why hadn't he thought to bring his own food, though? Not that it would do him much good now…

"_All alone... It's nothing getting scolded by your parents can compare with."_

"_I hate the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook!"_

… _Homemade bento for Sasuke-kun…_

**So when did you grow a conscience? **

Her arm reacted automatically and before she knew it, her hand was outstretched and the bento she'd been nibbling on was thrust in front of Naruto's face. It took her two full seconds before she realized that Sasuke-kun's hand had extended at the same time as hers. Naruto reacted quite wildly, thrusting his legs in the air and staring to and fro from Sasuke to Sakura like he couldn't decided where too look.

"Idiot. Just eat."

"Wha- …Sasuke-teme?"

Sasuke sighed. "I need you in full strength to help me get those bells. We're not going to work well together if you're starving."

Then Naruto and Sasuke-kun where staring at her. Sakura blushed. She'd reacted more because of the pity, but it really was a good idea… she resigned to tell the truth, anyway. Maybe it would show Sasuke-kun how good a person she was.

"Umm… yeah, that. And, well – you didn't bring any bento and I'm not really hungry at all, I'm on a diet, you know, so anyway _just eat it beforeIchangemymind_!"

"…I don't have how to hold the chopsticks." Timid gaze.

"…" Glare.

"…" Green eyes widening.

Puppy eyes to the right.

_Hn. No, idiot._

Puppy eyes to the left.

… _Dammit._

* * *

.

Kakashi wasn't sure what had just happened. He'd left them with the warning, expecting them to fail their second test before it even started. If they took his words as law (as they would, because he's Hatake Kakashi and of course those kids would not disobey direct orders) they would not feed Uzumaki and fail.

And then Kakashi had observed the most unusual behavior from the three. First, Sakura and Sasuke thrusting their arms out like a coordinated dance routine. Then, Naruto tap dancing on the air and suddenly a flurry of conversation he hadn't been able to listen so far away. Then huge teary eyes had appeared and the girl had succumbed to them as if they'd come straight from the Uchiha, proceeding to feed the boy, of whom before she cringed from having too near, with her chopsticks.

Then the tornado and drama and histrionics, and the two unbound children were standing in front of the third like a shield.

Sharingan Kakashi was blasé, if a little shocked.

Hatake Kakashi was outright stunned and quite a bit more excited about the children in front of him.

Kakashi-the-boy wanted to cry.

He'd found a team again, and he'd be damned if that didn't mean he'd make them grow into legends.

_TBC_

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry for any spelling mistakes! English is not my first language and I'm very much without a Beta. Any takers?

A lot of dialogues without nicely laid out sentences. Is that ok? I sort of love it. Tell me what you think. Also, someone please explain to me the right way to write Jonin, Chunin, Genin, Obasan, Okaasan, etc. Is the way I've written them ok?

Not much to explain… If Kakashi seems a little harsh with them, it's because I want to make him a little rough around the edges – like he's staring at his reflection in a broken mirror. The pieces don't all fit together right.

A few more mentions about Naruto's past and his living conditions, Sakura grows a heart (is that even… what?) and Sasuke accepts help! Woop!

(He doesn't have to know that he would have gotten Kakashi anyway. I don't think anyone will run over anyone else in efforts to inform him.)

And yes, in my universe, Sakura's dad has blue eyes. Deal with it. Genetically it works and even if it didn't… well, I really wouldn't care.

Also, Mori-san is such a cute little old lady!... Or isn't she?

Review please and all the other lovely things you can do on this page! I'll try to answer through PM's or through next chapter's Author Notes if you'd just please help me out with a review.

I fell like that is sufficient groveling

Love,

Chrys


	3. Spring: The Complicated Rivalry Between

Aaaand here is the 3rd chapter, ladies and gents!

I'll take this time to thank pretty much every review, follow and favorite this story has received. You guys are really making me push myself to continue this – I'm usually extremely lax with my writing, and I'm trying my best not to let you down.

**Stephanie**: Thanks!

**theIrishWriter**: Exactly; I wanted to paint Naruto in a very harsh light because I feel he is too romanticized in the early stages of the manga – he needs to have his breaking points too. I'll be playing with those here and later on in the story. About the academy records: I think people are gonna be shocked when the Chunin exams start and they see the difference between Team 7 on paper and the real Team 7.

**Captainsatire**: :D Well, there you go – I'm updating (I know, I'm surprised too)!

**Buterflypuss**: Thank you :)

**Poppy Grave Dreams**: I'm glad you're enjoying this. I am a bit of an attention-to-detail freak, which helps in some ways, I guess. About Sakura: She'll be using up a lot of my dedication these first few chapters, simply because I need her to evolve in leaps and bounds physically and emotionally, much more than Sasuke, Naruto or Kakashi, to reach the goal I have set for the four of them.

**Guest1:** Lol, the puppy eyes – sadly, I'm pretty sure I'm keeping this away from NaruSaku territory. I'm sorry! And NOPE, Mori Obasan had pretty much nothing to do with Morino. It'll be a surprise ;)

**MuffinMan9223**: Thank you, muffin' ;)

**Guest2**: thanks

**Guest3**: You are awesome for reviewing. Thank you very much.

**Jayley**: I love _writing_ Kakashi's POV, too, so I guess we agree!

**Guest4**: Thank you!

**Hershey Rocks:** awesome name. So sad you won't be able to beta me :( Sakura's position in the team will be discussed next chapter, so look forward to that! And I do very much want to keep them all in character (which is a little bit hard, at times).

**Prescripto13**: Thank you very much for noticing that and pointing it out. I do try very hard to make a slightly fantastical plot, and universe, be relevant to many of us. Kakashi is a genius ninja with almost magical abilities, yes, but he's also human. They all are.

**Love is a Myth**: Thank you very much! I'll PM you to discuss the next chapter once I'm done with it. I decided to publish this because I felt it had been too long since the last one, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Without further ado, I present:

* * *

Chapter 3: The Complicated Rivalry Between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto

_Spring._

The restaurant was filled to the brim, with costumers seated in all of the 20 tables the humble establishment provided. Light filtered in through the rim of the closed door; due to the overwhelming amount of people, the owner was forced to, temporarily, close the entrance. From it, looking in, the room seemed filled with cheer and laughter, the sounds of chuckles shooting towards the off-white walls, crashing against the tall frames of the windows and settling into the corners of the strong, pine-wood floor. The large rectangular room ended in a half-wall that separated the kitchen from the main room and, to the right, a small screen that gave way to a private dining room.

In there, Sarutobi Asuma was getting wasted.

"And then that lazy-ass Shikamaru just laid there, like he was playing dead or something! Who the hell just decides to take a nap during a battle!"

Yuuhi Kurenai chuckled. "It was only a friendly spar, Asuma-san."

He shook his head and felt disoriented for half a second. "No! That is no excuse for that sort of behavior! I swear that kid will give me more grey hairs than my own nephew. What if he dies in a mission because the fool just decided it was _too troublesome_" and here he mimicked the teenager's monotone, "to even run away from an enemy?"

"Well, I'm sure he won't be such an idiot, Asuma-senpai. He's a Nara, right?" To this, Sarutobi nodded. "Well, isn't he supposed to be smart? I heard he had the best grades in the whole promotion." Sora, a jonin instructor who had taken another team from the same grade as the rookie-nine, scratched his neck. "Ami-chan is always gossiping about how unfair that was."

Shiranui Genma, on the other side of the large rectangular table, spoke. "Why? Was she competing with him for the spot?" He grinned, the toothpick between his teeth tilting upwards. "She must have known it would be stupid to go _against a_ _Nara_."

The brown haired jonin sighed and bowed his head low. "No, she-" He hesitated, and then, "She was claiming he stole _her Sasuke-kun's_ spot as the most intelligent in their grade." His head lowered even more as laughter broke out throughout the room.

"Seriously? Man, girls were so much more interested in the shinobi arts back in my day…" Asuma slumped down, banging his empty cup of sake and trying to serve himself another one before relenting and letting Yuuhi-san serve the next round. "Ino is more concerned by the shine in her hair than the one on her kunai. When I was inspecting their packs, hers had the dullest blades. If she only took care of her equipment half as much as her appearance..."

"Say, Asuma-senpai…" Sora said, feeling vindictive.

"Hmm?"

"Isn't your genin kunoichi also enamoured by Sasuke? Ami always talks about her. Apparently she's known by a lot of the girls."

Genma had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he turned to look at his right-hand side companion. "Well, would you look at that? Seems one of your genin is pretty sought after, Kakashi." He grinned as he looked at the man who had his head buried in the orange book. "Weren't you also very popular when you were young? You still are, even with half of that face covered up… Mah… that's not fair. You two are gonna get all the chicks, whether young or old!"

Kurenai glared at him. "Genma-san, to say such an improper thing…!"

He laughed, propping his arms against the floor behind him. "Kurenai-chan is so uptight! Relax, I wouldn't go for girls; I like grown women such as yourself, sweetheart." He winked and hid a grin as, simultaneously, she blushed and Asuma glowered at him from behind his sake. He sent a glance in Kakashi's direction, chuckling. "Besides, this bastard doesn't give a shit about what I say. I could say he's a pedophile and that his books are actually about old men fucking pre-teens and I doubt he'd even hear me in the first place... Ain't that right, Kakashi?"

Everyone went still, holding his or her breath. It was one thing to joke about it, but to directly disrespect the Copy Cat Ninja did not spell good news. There was silence. Then they all heard the sound of a page being flipped, slowly and meticulously, the grains in the sheets rubbing against each other softly, until it rested against the opposite side of the open book.

Shiranui Genma giggled. "Every. Damn. Fucking. Time." He took a swig of his strong sake, feeling it burn all the way down. "I'll get you someday, you bastard."

Then he got up, threw his part of the bill on the table and stormed out.

"… Genma-san is dealing with some issues, isn't he?" A blond kunoichi threw a worried glance at the door behind her.

Asuma sighed. "You've been working for a long time in the Hokage Tower, but I guess you're relatively new to our sad little group, Miyuki-san." He saw her curious glance and conceded. "It's nothing you should poke your nose in, though. He's struggled with some past events for a long time. It's best to let it rest."

Kurenai doubted that was the whole story, but she figured Sarutobi had reasons to keep Shiranui's past a secret. _To each his own_, she thought, even as the blond administrative excused herself and practically rushed through the door. She'd probably search for the troubled shinobi, thinking she could fix him. Women like her always think they can fix broken people.

_Not me, though_, the red-eyed instructor thought, _I've learned my lesson. _

Which was why she'd thought twice about the Hokage's request to continue being Hinata's sensei. The little girl had so many self-esteem issues Kurenai had to wonder whether she'd ever be able to overcome them. Whether she'd ever find a way to help her in some way.

Up till now, it hadn't been working out the way she'd wanted it to.

"Say, how has everyone else's' week been? Now that it's only us instructors left in here, we can discuss pretty freely our students, right?" Asuma grinned.

Another jounin, who'd been silent until then, sighed. "You've been talking about your team since we got here, Asuma-senpai."

"Yeah, we've kinda gotten tired of hearing about them, already…" Another spoke.

Asuma puffed his rosy cheeks, flushed from the alcohol, and yelled, "Fine then! Oi, Kakashi! What about your team?"

"Hmm?" The silver haired man murmured, never lifting his eyes from the book.

"Tell us about your team! We've all been sharing and you've just sat there with that perverted book of yours!"

"Mah…" He crinkled his eye as he lifted his head, scratching his neck with his left hand. "There's not much to say…?"

Kurenai frowned. "What do you mean, Kakashi-senpai? It's been a week since the initiation exam. You're telling us there's nothing interesting about the _first team_ you've ever passed?"

Kakashi laughed quietly, conscious of all the eyes looking at him now. He'd never meant to come to the restaurant to celebrate the _week-anniversary_, as Asuma had put it, of their debut as instructors, but then he'd been dragged by a very conniving Shiranui Genma and Asuma, who while sober were actually very capable of holding their own against a distracted Kakashi. He thought he could get away with sitting far away from the others and appearing immersed in his book, but apparently that had not lasted very long.

He sighed under his breath, ready to bullshit his way through the conversation.

"Well, they're OK, I guess. They don't like D-rank missions though." He smiled, closing his eye to give the impression of genuine joy. "They're a bit too… energetic."

And never had he used a euphemism as big as that one. Energetic did not cover the shitload of trouble his team got into. After the test on Friday he'd sat them down to talk about what their training schedule would be, from the regular stamina exercises to the reinforcement of Academy katas. They'd all shown varied degrees of interest, but in the one thing he could see they absolutely saw eye to eye was D-rank missions. The three children seemed to abhor the meager labor as if though every single mission required them to pick up dog shit from around the village – which they did on Tuesday, and Kakashi quickly bolted so as to not die from the pungent smell. Whether it was Sasuke and his holier-than-thou attitude ("Hn. I'm not cleaning up your dog shit." "_What did you say_, young man?"), Naruto and his reputation in the village ("Get that child away from my garden! I'm not accepting a team with that _monster_!") or Sakura and her hair… and Naruto (_Splash_. "Oh _shi_- heyyy, Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to-" "DAMMIT, NARUTO, MY _HAIR_!").

Kakashi's past week hadn't been fun at all. Honestly, from what he could tell from the other jonin's stories, it seemed he'd gotten the short end of the stick. It was one thing to have a problematic ninja, or teenage girls obsessed with boys but…

He hummed distractedly while Yuuhi Kurenai spoke about her team's success in a D-rank mission. It had been bugging him throughout the whole week, really, since he'd first witnessed Naruto get beat up by Sakura and walk away from it grinning; observed Sasuke watch it all with a lazy bloodlust and a slightly sadistic smirk; heard Sakura mumble under her breath "In, Sakura, reign it in. _Shut up_. IN, all of it- _I said. Shut. Up_."

He was starting to realize his genin weren't exactly… _sane_.

"-kashi? You there?" Asuma's red face was inches away from his, and Kakashi blinked lazily, staring up at him.

"…Hmm?"

"Dammit, how'd you pull away from us? You still gotta share you're 'xprience with the brats! You got an Uchiha and that loudmouthed kid-" And they all heard the unspoken Jinckuriki, "…so you gotta spill, K'kashi!"

Kakashi glanced at Yuuhi, asking her silently to make sure the Sarutobi didn't collapse on his way home. She nodded, smirking slightly, and he turned back to the man in front of him. He said, "Well, I will say that they've got a lot of potential. They're still just brats, but I'm pretty sure I can make something of them." He shrugged. "We'll see."

A jonin at the other side of the room laughed. "Only you, Kakashi-senpai, could talk about the sole heir to the Uchiha and that _demon_ as if though they were just children. Only you."

While mostly everyone laughed with him, Kakashi only smiled tightly under his mask and clenched his fists below the table.

After all, weren't they? No matter how insane, wrecked or broken, weren't they all just…

Children?

* * *

Sakura's legs trembled as she went up the stairs of her apartment's front porch. She silently took out her key and stabbed at the wood around the keyhole until it jammed into the metal and entered sluggishly into the groove. She rested her whole body against the door for a few seconds, feeling the clean wooden smell enter her nostrils and fill her lungs, before turning the doorknob and walking into the hallway. Then she shuffled her feet forward and stumbled up the stairs.

Kami, she was so tired.

Halfway up the stairs her dress, which had until then only been covered by grass and manure, got caught in one of the sharp corners of the banister and ripped when she kept moving forward, not having noticed. She swore.

**Well that model is outdated anyway. When are we going shopping?**

_Shut up. _

That was the phrase Sakura had become most used to muttering mentally. It had become clear the first few days after the bell test that the voice that plagued her was manifesting itself much more freely, though she didn't exactly know the reason. She figured she was being exposed to too much of Naruto's idiocy.

She sighed and turned to look at the door to her left.

Apartment 401. Home.

By the time she'd closed the door, the kunai was already imbedded in the wall by her shoulder. Sakura reacted as quickly as she could, ignoring the strain on her cold muscles as she crouched and swiftly pulled out her own kunai, turning to face her –

"Otou-san!" She let the kunai drop to the floor as she vacillated between running towards him and staying where she was. She never knew whether he was in a mood for displays of affection.

"Yōjo*." He opened his arms seconds before she launched herself at him and collapsed against his chest. He smelled like tree bark and incense, like Dad. Her legs trembled, not only because of the strain on her muscles. She had missed him.

"Sakura! What did you do with your dress?!" Her mother's shrill voice broke through the moment and Sakura reluctantly moved away from her father after he let go of her. She looked down at her feet while her mother continued berating her for the state of her attire. She sighed softly when she heard she wouldn't get a new one, no matter the rip.

**Heh. Sucks to be you. **

_You are I, remember? _

…

_Stupid_.

"Are you LISTENING TO ME, young girl?" Sakura felt the cold fingers on her ear before her mother pressed hard and yanked her away into the kitchen. "You'll have to wear some of my tights – if we sew it up, you can still wear the dress as a shirt. You'll have to do all the laundry for the house for the rest of the month, though. I don't care how hard you've worked in that genin team of yours, you should have taken better care of your clothes!"

A few hours later, Sakura had finished helping her mother cook and after changing into cleaner clothes they all sat down at the dinner table. It had been a week since her parents where home, and hopefully when her mother had the time to inspect the house, she'd find everything to her liking. She always got mad when Sakura didn't clean up properly.

"So?" Her mother looked at her from above the salad bowl she was using to serve her plate. "How's your team? Who're your teammates? Your sensei?"

"Mebuki." He father's gruff and amused voice broke from the other side of the table. "She'll tell us after she's swallowed her food."

"Oh!" Her mother blushed and stabbed at her salad. "Yes, of course."

Sakura figured she painted a strange picture to her parents, who'd never seen her so enthusiastic about food, but she was simply too hungry to think it through. The past week had been a terror, especially because she couldn't justify buying too much in the market when her parents had left her just enough to follow her diet. With Kakashi-sensei's training, though, the diet simply starved her in a way she hadn't felt made her skinny or pretty. It just made her feel a little bit diseased and very, _very_ tired.

_Kami_, she thought, _I've missed Okaa-san's meals._

When Sakura finally felt full enough, she had finished her whole plate of food and a little bit more. She quickly felt nauseated though and figured it had to do with the size of her stomach. She'd never eaten that much in one meal before.

"So?" Her father prodded, happy to let the increase in appetite just be. Her mother seemed more inclined to question her but, ultimately, her curiosity over her past week won over.

Sakura sighed into her tea. "Well, I passed the exam our instructor gave us; which… you guys didn't tell me there was one." She frowned at them, feeling a little resentful.

Her mother shrugged. "We didn't know about it when we had ours. Didn't see why you should, either."

Sakura kept frowning, but continued, "Well, my sensei is a little bit lazy, but he's nice enough, I guess. He has… worked us pretty hard." Her muscles still hurt.

"Good. You need some meat on your bones."

Sakura frowned. She realized she wasn't the most athletic girl in their classroom, but she'd never thought her physique was lacking. This past week, though, her sensei had made sure to beat that notion out of her mind. It seemed he wanted to work her harder than the other two boys, too: whenever they ran 10 times around the field, she had to run 20 times. Whenever they did 200 sit ups, she did 400. She tried accusing him too, but then he would force them all into more team-building games and Sasuke-kun would glare at her, like it was all her fault for exercising her right to protest.

She wouldn't mind it all so much if she knew _why_. Why did _she_ have to work harder?

"His name's Hatake Kakashi."

Silence. Her father's eyes widened, and her mother looked at her in surprise. "Hatake… Kakashi?"

Sakura eyed the both of them and, ignoring the twist in her gut, nodded meekly. "Yes. I remember you spoke of him but… you never told me he never had a genin team. It came as a surprise for me too."

"Well… well." He lowered his eyes to his plate. Her mother coughed into her napkin.

Sakura tapped the edge of her plate. "That's… that's good, right? You always said he's a great shinobi, so if I have him as my instructor, then-"

"And who are your teammates, Sakura?"

She blinked, having expected more of a reaction to her sensei's identity and shocked at being interrupted. Finally, she answered, "Uzumaki Naruto and," she blushed, "Sasuke-kun."

Her mother's fork stabbed against the ceramic plate and screeched as she dragged it, and suddenly Sakura felt very uncomfortable in that room. It felt as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees, and she realized she could hear her own breathing.

_Breathe in… and out. _

Her mother was trembling as she got up from the table; the door, slamming against the frame as she left the room.

_In… out. _

Her father telling her he'd be retiring to bed, too. Asking her to tell her sensei to meet them for dinner tomorrow night.

_In…_

Stepping away from her when she moved to kiss him. Leaving without hugging her goodnight.

… _and out. _

A few minutes later Sakura collected the dirty dishes, turned towards the kitchen and started washing.

_What… what has just happened?_

* * *

Team 7 met up at an old red bridge under which a meager stream ran through. That stream later flowed into a bigger river that crossed halfway through Konoha Village and carried on outside the village into the outer Forest. Sasuke didn't think much about it except that it was conveniently close to the compound and that the water was always clear. Naruto thought it was too far from his apartment and even farther away from Ichiraku. Sakura just thought it looked pretty.

Kakashi didn't ever tell them it was where Minato used to take Obito, Rin and him, because they didn't need to know. Better it just be a simple red bridge than a reminder of all he'd lost. Better fill it with good memories of his current team.

Not that it was working out the way he'd planned.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled yet again, looking up at him as if he'd stolen a bowl of ramen from him.

Kakashi smiled, trying to look even slightly apologetic. Out of the corner of his eye he spied Sasuke flinching and raising a hand to his ear.

"Dobe, shut up. You're destroying my ears."

Naruto turned, incensed, towards Sasuke. "Oh yeah? Well how about I destroy your-?"

"Naruto, please don't finish that sentence." Kakashi sweat-dropped as he placed his hand on the blond child's head. "I'm sure Sakura-chan wouldn't appreciate your treatment of your teammate."

The brat cringed and ducked his head, lifting his arms to protect his face and closing his eyes, expecting a blow. After a few seconds, he opened one of them, and slowly relaxed his body while turning towards the girl. The two boys and the man stared at the distracted child, who was slowly rubbing a few hair strands between her fingers, chewing on her bottom lip and gazing into the stream.

Kakashi frowned. He'd never seen her so out of it and he was frankly lost as to how to deal with it. She looked genuinely concerned about something, and as the genin with the least baggage in his team, he honestly had no clue what could be such a pressing concern that she'd pass out on a chance to bash Naruto and unleash some of her fury.

When he accepted a team he'd never imagined having to deal with their issues – in his experience, jonin instructors taught, they didn't attend to their student's needs. He realized he'd have to speak about some important matters with both Naruto and Sasuke – if there were any two children who desperately needed someone to talk to, it was them – but he figured that would occur farther down the road, when they were older or rather, when he was more willing and much more prepared. He'd be damned if he knew how to treat children their age.

He cleared his throat loudly. And again, after Sakura didn't show any signs of noticing either him or the other boys. On the third time, he gave up and nodded towards Naruto. He shrugged, got as close as he dared to her, and then,

"SAKURA-CHAAA˜AN!"

"ARGH!" She gripped the railing, settling into the ground after jumping in fright. She turned furious eyes at her teammate. "What?! Would you like me to break your spleen?""

Kakashi grinned under his mask, closing his eye until it turned up around the corners. "Good to have you back Sakura-chan. You seemed to have left us for a while."

She blinked, staring at the three of them for some time, before blushing a deep pink and stammering out an apology. He shrugged his shoulders, silently telling her it was ok, before looking at the three of them and saying, "Right, my little genin, today, we won't be doing any exercises."

The reactions were varied: Sakura's eyes gleamed a little, but was otherwise composed, while Sasuke frowned and seemed overall even less enthused about being around them all.

Naruto was a ball of excitement, all bouncing feet and shaking arms. "What are we gonna do then, huh? I bet it's a full on important mission that'll take us outside of town. Is it _really_ difficult? Is that why we have all day? Are we gonna catch some bad guys?"

Kakashi smiled, "Well, it is very important, it will take us all day and we'll be outside of town."

This time, the three of them looked curious. They stared at him with hopeful eyes, and Kakashi felt so bad about breaking their tiny little hearts.

* * *

…It was also slightly satisfying to be on the other side of the fence, watching his team eye the weed-addled crop field in front of them. What goes around comes around, he guessed.

"…I'm feeling a lot of dislike foryou right now, Kakashi-sensei."

"_Hn_."

_Sob_. "My nails…"

He grinned, taking out his book as he settled onto the fence, lazily cocking his head to the side. "Well, D-ranks are very important, Naruto, we are outside the village and…" He gave his best innocent smile, "I do believe this will take you _all… day._"

Sakura's shoulder twitched, telling him he was getting very close to her anger limit. It had never been unleashed onto him, even though he liked testing out her boundaries, just like he loved poking fun at Naruto's height and lazily staring at Sasuke when he felt glared at, which just exacerbated the intensity of the death glare.

If he knew it was so much fun to fuck with his genin, maybe he'd have accepted a team way earlier.

"What's the deal with these stupid missions, anyway?" Naruto muttered, angrily tearing out some weed along with a bunch of good crop. He'd have to fix that…

Kakashi leaned back, pressing his back against the barn's doors. He felt the lock brush against his waist. They needed to clean up inside too, but the owner wasn't home and his wife, who was half blind, didn't know where the keys where or how to find them. If the owner didn't arrive by the time his team finished weeding the crops out, he'd have to teach them how to pick locks. He had a feeling one of them would be _much_ more proficient than the others; it might incite the others to do better in their training.

He started. "Well, I'm sure Sakura-chan knows _all_ about mission ranking…" At this, the girl preened, ready to launch out a textbook perfect answer, "…so why doesn't Sasuke-kun explain it to us? Hmm?"

Simultaneously, the boy in question sent a glare his way and Pinky frowned while looking ready to protest. She cowered after glancing at Sasuke though, retreating into her job of plucking weed. Kakashi frowned inwardly. He needed to nip that crush quickly… unless he found a way to use it.

He shifted his glance to the Uchiha. "Well, Sasuke-kun? Please start. We're all waiting..." He sung, smiling at the mounting bloodlust coming from the boy. It was a remarkable amount, really, for his age. If he was even slightly older, he might even find it impressive, but for now he was concerned. If he didn't find a way to focus the boy's bloodlust and channel it into a more controlled temper, he could put his teammates in serious trouble. It was one thing to be slightly crazy – almost every ninja was, at some point in their lives – but he needed them all to, well… have some sort of synchronicity in their insanity. Otherwise, they would most likely end up killing each other.

"There are five ranks in the mission charter." Sasuke's voice, gravelly and annoyed, started. "A, B, C, D and S. They move in level of difficulty from D to A-rank. S-rank missions are only for high-level jonins, ANBU and the Hokage."

"And why aren't the higher ranking missions assigned to genin?"

Sasuke frowned, looking bitter. "Because we do not have the skills needed _yet_."

And to Kakashi, that sounded like a promise. He coughed. "So what do you think is the deal, as Naruto-kun puts it, with these D-rank missions?"

At this, Sasuke cocked his head to the side, thinking, while Sakura bit her lip to stop herself from answering. He knew it wasn't to gain battle skills; D-ranks were usually menial tasks that could just as well be completed by civilians. If it wasn't combat experience, then…

"To gain infiltration skills?"

Kakashi smiled, "One solid advantage, yes, but not the reason, nope. You are effectively learning how to blend into a civilian crowd, and weeding, baby-sitting, cleaning, etc. will help you be more comfortable when impersonating others. However, this could all be learned outside of D-ranks and usually only trained and selected infiltration squads get the missions that require such a level of credibility. Most squads will end up completing scroll-delivery or retrieval, protection, assassination – things that require stealth but not necessarily that level of deceit." Although it wouldn't hurt them to gain some skill in that area, considering the prices on most of their heads… He nodded towards Naruto. "What do you think, Naruto-kun?"

The blond boy sat on a patch of mud, splattering onto his teammates. They glowered at him; he pretended not to notice. "Well, if it's not about improving our skills then… is it about the _civies_?"

Sakura frowned. "Civilians, Naruto. You shouldn't call them that."

"But Sakura-chan, I heard other ninja calling them that!"

"Hn, dobe. That doesn't make it right."

"Well how am I supposed to know that?! And who are you to say that? You're the most _irrespectful_ bastard I know!"

(Kakashi blinked. "Maah? Naruto-kun, I think you mean disrespect-")

"Shut up, dobe – I was brought up _right_."

(Sakura glanced between the two. "Sasuke-kun, don't listen to him-!")

"Oh, REALLY! So _they_ were the ones to put that stick up your ass, then?!"

("N-Naruto-baka! Don't say that-")

Sasuke glared and fumed, "_Don't insult my family._"

"OOHHH, I'm sooo scared! What are you gonna do? They're all _gone_, right?"

("Seriously, guys, don't! -")

"_Shut. Up_. At least I had one, you were _discarded_!"

Naruto felt tears in his eyes. "Fuck you! My parents died! They didn't _leave_ me!"

"Is that what you tell yourself at night when you can't sleep? That they loved you? Cared for you?" Sasuke smiled maliciously as Naruto reached his breaking point. His blood boiled. "Do you even know what your mother _looked_ like?"

The first punch to his jaw sent him flying, and the second crashed his head into the weed. He grinned and lunged at the blond above him, shifting his weight to land a powerful leg-kick against his stomach, knocking the air out his lungs. They grappled on the floor, punching and kicking. His fist into his spleen; a knee into the gut, until their forms blurred and Sasuke lost all of his senses except for the lust for blood.

A few meters away, Sakura shook against Kakashi's hold on her arms. "Let me go! Naruto's hurting Sasuke-kun!"

His eyes hardened. "I'm quite sure they're hurting each other equally. You really should stop defending him."

"But Sasuke-kun-"

"Insulted Naruto's parents and his feelings, just like Naruto did to him. They both deserve whatever beating their getting from the other. Do you think Sasuke-kun is a saint? That he can do no wrong? Open your eyes, girl."

She shook her head, not wanting to hear it. "No, he- he was provoked-!"

"He dislikes Naruto just as much as Naruto does him, don't deny it. If they could, they would kill each other – don't you remember his goal in life is to murder someone? He likes _blood_, Sakura, and you're looking at his joy right now."

Sakura evaded the subject, looking away from the two boys in front of them. "Well what are we doing here? You have to stop them! They're gonna get killed-"

"No the won't. Look," He said, releasing her and turning her head towards the struggle. "They're almost done."

In all honesty, they still had about 15 more minutes of bashing their skulls left, from what Kakashi estimated, before the adrenaline wore off and they collapsed from their wounds. It was a calculated risk, letting them fight – if this was _that_ kind of struggle, then they'd be alright, and possibly closer to his goal than before.

If they genuinely hated each other, though, as he told Sakura… then he might not have made the best decision not to interfere. Frankly, he was feeling his way around this _teaching_ thing. If they both didn't stop in a while, he'd have to make his move, otherwise The Council would have his head in a plate. For now, he settled for forcing the girl to watch her teammates fight. She needed to be a part of this just as much as they were, or it wouldn't be the same. She needed to face this: a Sasuke far from the way her dreams painted him and a distraught Naruto embittered from what life had dealt him. She needed to see them at their most honest, primal hour.

She needed to understand that they were two angry, lonely little boys, who only knew how to make friends by beating the shit out of each other.

* * *

By the time they were done, their section of the crop fields was absolutely destroyed. Sasuke was vaguely aware that they would get punished for that.

"Oi, …Sasuke." A voice muttered to his right.

He tried lifting his head from the ground; he settled for turning it to face the other boy.

"What?"

"Your parents," Naruto said, "… they did ok. They did… really good."

Sasuke stared at the boy who had his face turned away from him. He saw his shoulders shake. Grimacing, the Uchiha turned his head to face the barn. "…Hn. You call the Hokage 'JiJi'."

"…What?" Came out the choked response.

"He cares, right? That's why he lets you get away with so much." He coughed, uncomfortable.

_Sob_. "…You suck at this."

"Tch. Dobe."

"Teme."

Sasuke snorted, and Naruto gave a tremulous chuckle.

After a moment of silence, broken only by the owner's voice screaming at their sensei and Kakashi trying to placate the man and ask for help to bandage some of their wounds, Sakura inched into Naruto's line of sight, a small sewing kit and a bottle in hand. She hesitated, and then started stammering out an apology to the both of them. "I'm, I—sorry, I didn't –Kakashi-sensei, he-!"

"Sakura."

"Ah! Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up."

"Ah…!"

Naruto grinned, tiling his head towards her. "Sakura-chan! Did you see that! I totally beat his ass!"

Sasuke scoffed. "I went easy on you, dobe."

The girl in question blinked, poker-faced. "You're both bleeding onto the crop fields, and I'm pretty sure neither of you can move."

"…uhh.." Naruto looked uncertainly into Sakura's blank face. He couldn't read her right now, and that was scary.

A few seconds later, she flashed a smile. "I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a tie." Sad face. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. Maybe next time!"

"…Hn."

* * *

Half a mile away, Kakashi was moving the medical supplies from the owner's house out into the crop fields. He sighed. The cost of reparations would be coming straight out from his pocket.

"IT. IS. _NATURALLY PINK_!"

"OW! DAMMIT, SAKURA-CHAN!"

Kakashi rushed forward. He'd thought the state of the boys would stay Sakura's considerable anger when he left her to watch over them while he spoke to the client, but if she decided she could still unleash it… Kyuubi or no Kyuubi, bruised ribs hurt like hell.

When he arrived, a completely different scene from what he imagined greeted him.

"Stay still, Naruto! You're only making it worse."

"But why did you pour so much onto it? I honest didn't mean to -"

"Don't. _Say_ it."

_Gulp._ "Right." Naruto grimaced as Sakura cleaned a long scrape on his arm with more alcohol. "Why isn't the Teme being tortured, again?"

Kakashi observed the three genin before him: two of them sprawled out in the dirt, cuts and bruises limiting their movement, and the third kneeling in between them, holding a cotton ball in one hand and Naruto's left arm in the other. Beside her, a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a sewing kit.

Sakura hummed distractedly, prodding the skin around the wound with sharp jabs and pondering whether she needed to sew it up. Deciding against it, she let his arm drop roughly onto her lap, and move towards his face. Naruto whimpered in pain. "You made a very wrong assumption about my _naturally pink_ hair, so now he has to wait for me to calm down before I treat him." With her temper at an all-time high, she had a harder time controlling her inner. Who knew what she'd do if she got her hands on Sasuke-kun's body…

***Drool* Oh, you perverted little girl!**

_Shut up! That's not what I meant! This is your fault!_

Besides, she wanted to hold onto the anger a little while longer. It was staving off the fear and shock in her bones and it kept her acting relatively normal. Since Kakashi-sensei's genjutsu her imagination had gotten quite a bit more vivid, but it was completely different from having Naruto and Sasuke quite literally tainting the floor with their bloods in front of her. They'd been emotional, of course, and she didn't think she would have reacted differently had anyone insulted her parents, but…

She saw the tears tracks on Naruto's cheek and her hand shook. She got angrier.

Naruto gulped, feeling her rub furiously at his cheek where a long cut ripped through his birthmarks. He was happy he was being pampered by Sakura-chan – he really was! – But she was being a little bit… too rough, for his battered body. "Ano… do you think you could be a little bit- gentler?"

She paused, before starting to rub harsher onto his skin. Sickly sweet, she answered, "Is this _better_?"

Naruto grimaced before glaring at Sasuke. The Uchiha caught the look and rolled his eyes. "Tch. Not my fault."

Before Naruto could answer, Kakashi cleared his throat loudly. "Hello, my cute, little, beat up genin!"

Sakura jumped; she had not seen him approach, with her back towards him. "Kakashi-sensei! The lady gave me some rubbing alcohol to use. Did you get the first-aid kit?"

He nodded, handing it over to her and watching as she opened it and removed several items with practiced ease. "You seem to know your way around that, Sakura-chan."

She blushed and seemed to hesitate, before answering. "Yes, my… I was taught how to use it, in case of emergencies…" _by my parents_.

An awkward silence descended on the group. Naruto broke it first. "Well! Good thing you learned, otherwise we'd be stuck here for longer, right Sakura-chan?" He gazed concernedly at her when she didn't answer. "Sakura-chan?"

She blinked. "Ah! Right. It's a good thing."

Kakashi clapped his hands. "Well, we'll have to go back into the Village and leave you two in the hospital. I don't think you two will be up for training this afternoon, though." He scratched his chin. Faking a bright, innocent smile, he chuckled. "Then it'll only be you and me, Sakura-chan!"

She gulped.

**Well… you're fucked. **

* * *

Back in the village, the Hokage pondered over the recent news that had reached his desk. The countries that were asked to participate in the Chunin Exams had all sent back their response, either accepting or rejecting the invitation.

Except one.

What was even more unsettling was the acceptance of one of the newly formed ninja villages. The invitation was sent out as courtesy, but no one expected them to agree. As a young community, they needed time to increase their strength and deal with most of the legal settlements the daimyo would force upon them.

That they were entering their genin into the public eye for evaluation spelt bad news. Either they wanted to make some grandstanding and show off their strengths, which could go either way, or they had a very specific goal with this spring's chunin exams – if they were to upset the balance of power between the main Hidden Villages things could go very wrong, very fast. Their leader was either very stupid or very cunning.

And Sarutobi never liked to underestimate anyone.

_TBC_

* * *

AN: Asuma likes to get waaaasteeeed. Also, I planned to cover a lot more in this chapter, but it would have ended up too long, so I decided to cut it on the short side.

We meet Kakashi's… friends/acquaintances/peoplehesforcedtointeractwith! Sakura's parents! Woop!

Also, it's pretty obvious which Villages Sarutobi is reffering to, immaright?

Please review, follow, favorite, etc etc!

Love,

Crys


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